31 05 2025 at 12:00
LABIOMISTA Reimagined: Project Management as Living, Breathing Art
[Reflections from PMI Belgium’s Member Day at LABIOMISTA – Part 2 of 2]
I’m still processing everything we experienced during the #MemberDay at LABIOMISTA.
This wasn’t just an event — it was an immersion. A space that invites reflection and provokes thought. Where nature, art, science, and diversity converge — and that alone would have been enough to leave me transformed.
As I moved through each installation and carefully designed landscape, I felt as if my MBA in Project Management was unfolding before my eyes. Each corner echoed the phases of a project: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closing — but this time, not on paper, not in a classroom. It was tangible. It was alive. It had a purpose.
If I had to design a project today — one that integrates circular economy, social impact, regenerative design, education, culture, and community engagement — LABIOMISTA would be my blueprint.
The plurality of that place expands the mind.
Diversity isn’t just in the animals, the plants, or the art — it’s in the meanings, the stories, and the human connections it nurtures.
If I had to highlight one piece that truly shook me, it would be the reimagined figure of Medusa. Bold, unsettling, and deeply symbolic, it felt like a turning point — not just in the exhibition, but in how we relate to transformation itself.
By reimagining the mythological figure of Medusa with chickens instead of snakes, artist Koen Vanmechelen invites us to confront a powerful symbol of transformation. Instead of a gaze that turns to stone, we face the complexity of life, where art, science, and nature converge. The chickens, recurring elements in his Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, represent not only genetic and cultural diversity, but also the bridge between the natural and the biotechnological.
The presence of eggs in his sculptures evokes fertility, origin, and also their vital role in vaccine production — a point of intersection between the ancient and the modern, the body and the cure. Vanmechelen poses a deeper question:
Are we mere observers of the world, or are we its curators, caretakers, and changemakers?
His work doesn’t offer easy answers. Instead, it challenges us to reflect on our responsibility toward life, diversity, and the future of humanity.
It was a powerful reminder that, as project managers, we are no longer just facilitators of process or efficiency; we are also responsible for driving results. We are — above all — agents of transformation. We must also seek out experiences that challenge us, shake our assumptions, and expand our vision beyond traditional frameworks and Gantt charts.
A heartfelt thank you to PMI Belgium Chapter and our President, Anja Vandenbergh, for making this experience possible.
It was more than a networking day.
It was a living masterclass on what the future demands from us.
Jana Nastari
Associate Director of Marketing & Communication, PMI Belgium
